What You Need to Know About Olive Oil

First, a simple request: Go into your kitchen right now, toss all the butter, margarine, and corn and safflower oils into a large sack, and heave it into your annoying neighbor's yard. We'll wait here until you get back.

There. You're healthier already, and you've put an enemy at risk.

Good. Now, forswear those discarded fats and devote yourself to olive oil, just like Popeye did. Olive oil tastes better than the glop you just threw out, and besides, it can depress bad cholesterol, clean your arteries, and trim your waist. And "extra-virgin" sounds a hell of a lot sexier than "oleomargarine."

Know Your Virgins

You probably think this about virgins: Either you is or you ain't. True with high-school girls but not olive oils, which have to be extra-virgin to be reliably virtuous. By some industry standards, the extras must have less than 1 percent acidity; virgins, less than 3 or 4 percent. And both extras and virgins will be only mechanically or physically processed, or "cold pressed," so they maintain their olive integrity. "Virgin" on the label also means the makers haven't cut the product with chemically processed oils—or 10W-40.

Put It to Bed Properly

Store unopened bottles like wine: at a cool temperature in a dark cupboard or closet; that should keep those antioxidants buff for at least a year. (But just in case, check the expiration date, too.) Once opened, olive oil will last for up to 3 months if you give it the Martha Stewart treatment: chilly, dry, and dark.

Jiffy Lube Your Blood Vessels

Adults who downed 5 teaspoons of extra-virgin olive oil daily for a week not only lowered their LDL (bad) cholesterol, according to University of Barcelona researchers, but also showed less oxidation of LDL (which makes it truly badass, artery-hardening, heart-stopping cholesterol), thanks to higher blood levels of olive-oil antioxidants.

The Virgin Diet

Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital gathered 101 fat people, but not to poke fun. Half, they put on a low-fat diet (20 percent of calories from fat). The other, happier half: moderate fat (35 percent of calories from fat), including daily servings of nuts and olive oil. Result: Both groups lost roughly the same amount of weight, but the people who ate more of the right fats kept it off longer than the low-fat fatties.

Marshall Goldberg, M.D., an endocrinologist at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, tells his patients to take 2 teaspoons of extra-virgin 20 minutes before mealtime to make them feel full and eat less. Dip a good, crusty bread into a dish of O.O. A couple of dips should give you the required 2 teaspoons.

Squirt Some on a Squeaky Joint

A diet rich in olive oil lowers your risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis, says a team of researchers at Harvard University and the University of Athens. Folks who consumed the least olive oil had a 2 1/2 times greater risk of developing the disease than those who consumed the most.

We'll Get to the Bottom of This

Olive oil appears to have a protective effect against cancers of the colon and rectum, according to a British study. A diet high in meat was associated with an increased incidence of these cancers, while one rich in olive oil was associated with a decreased incidence.

Other Fun Stuff You Can Do with Olive Oil

Wipe garden tools with a light coating of olive oil before putting them away. Prevents rust.

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